Ministry Health Care

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the various customer service issues regarding Complaint Number [redacted] On behalf of Ministry Medical Group, part of Ascension, I apologize for the delayed responseThe original complaint did not reach the appropriate Ministry department until March 3, 2017, and this response was generated as soon as possible thereafterMinistry Medical Group strives to provide excellent care, 100% of the time and need to know when care falls short of patient expectationsAfter an investigation of the issues, Ministry's position is listed below.The first complaint was that it took minutes before the patient was taken back to the exam roomDue to the individualized attention given to every patient, sometimes Ministry care providers are not able to see patients exactly at the scheduled timeMinistry does not have a specific explanation for the delay and apologizes for the inconvenienceMinistry will use this complaint to investigate ways to improve patient scheduling and the clinic experience.Regarding the second complaint that the patient did not receive adequate instruction following the services received, Ministry conducted a review of the patient's careIt is Ministry policy to provide follow up instructions to patients and further necessary information regarding the patient's care within a reasonable amount of time after services are performedAfter reviewing this incident, the standard of care for services rendered to the patient has been metMinistry does apologize for any confusion or inconvenience in the aftercare communicationsMinistry will use this complaint to continue to monitor and improve communication policies and practicesThank you for your time and attention to this matter

Revdex.com of Wisconsin ATTN: Bradley [redacted] ** [redacted] RE: File [redacted] Dear Bradley: This letter is in response to the Revdex.com Center Concern File [redacted] , regarding the complaint filed due to a date of service not being billed to the insurance company After review of the account it was determined that the patient did have insurance at the time of this visit It appears that other visits were submitted to your insurance but for some reason this visit was overlooked On 2/17/a hold was put on your account at Alliance Collection Agency, on 2/21/we requested that the account be returned from Alliance collections agency to Ministry We apologized for any inconvenience this issue caused We will be writing this charge off and the patient will not be billed Thank you, Sally [redacted] Ascension/Ministry Health Care Phone: ###-###-####

Benita,In follow up to Mr. [redacted] 04/13/16 email in regard to [redacted] ’s complaint, it is the patient’s responsibility to understand the requirements and limitations of their insurance plan. If the patient continues to have concerns regarding his coverage, he would need to appeal or contact his insurance company regarding those concerns. There is nothing else Ministry is able to do on the patient’s behalf.In regard to the patient’s charges that were turned over to collections, the charges were correctly and appropriately billed to the patient’s insurance carrier and the patient, so they will not be pulled back from the collection agency. With respect to the patient’s credit report/history, the charges have already been reported to the credit bureaus by the collection agency. The collection event remains on the patient’s report; once the patient makes payment to the collection agency, it is reported as a paid collection event. I would advise the patient that should he choose not to make payment to the collection agency, the charges will continue to be pursued by the collection agency to the point of judgement and possible garnishment.Ministry Health Care maintains its position of having done its due diligence. As Mr. Reed indicated, there is nothing else that Ministry Health Care can do on our end to help the patient resolve the matter with his insurance carrier.Sincerely, [redacted] Customer Service SpecialistPatient Financial ServicesMinistry Health Care [redacted] . [redacted] @ministryhealth.org715-342-***

Dear Revdex.com:
Thank you for the chance to respond to this complaint.  I did review the patient's clinic account charges and there was a balance that was turned over to collection. When a balance gets turned over to collection, it is then considered bad debt and gets...

cleared off of Ministry' ledgers, and assumed by the collection agency and they will follow through on attempts to collect on the debt. We do not continue to attempt to collect. Once the balance is turned over to collection it is no longer considered a current balance and will not show on the statement. Ministry Health Care statements would list any current balances that the patient does have with our facility. 
 In regard to the statement of awareness of Ministry's Billing Statements being confusing, we do acknowledge that we have heard some general complaints to that effect and we have been in the process of working towards implementing a more simplified billing system; that being said, it is a very labor-intensive (Ministry Health Care needs to integrate 9 different health information systems) and costly project and we have yet to have an estimated launch date announced, certainly not within months. While reveiwing the clinic billing account, I found that there was no documentation that she had ever contacted our business office or customer service to report questions or concerns about the statements, so I do not know what staff that she is referring to that informed her it would take "2-3 months to correct." Billing concerns should be addressed by the Customer Service Department only.  I apologize if the patient was given inaccruate information.  I would encourage the patient to contact our customer service department at ###-###-####, with any questions  or concerns about her statements.
Sincerely,
[redacted]
Patient Relations Specialist
Ministry Health Care

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.While I appreciate [redacted] careful research and...

thorough response to the issue at hand, I do not agree with several points.  While the record [redacted] refers to may, indeed, say otherwise, I was definetly put on hold for much longer than 5 minutes multiple times.  Likewise, the record states that I did not return the phone call of the customer service representative that did the conference call with myself and my insurer.  She gave me her personal line to call, which I did at least 3 times, leaving a voice mail each time.  The lack of follow-up on that representative's part caused me to have no idea what transpired with her and my insurer and if there was a resolution agreed upon or in process.  I continued to defer paying the bill to Ministry due to wanting to know what the result of Ministry's representative's conversation and actions were.  I was not going to just pay a bill, which I believed (and continue to believe) is questionable as to my responsibility.  Perhaps, the fault does lie in misrepresentation of in-network doctors by my insurance on their provider directories.  However, Ministry never communicated that to me or what further actions I needed to take with my insurer or Ministry.  Due to all of the above, I do not think it fair that the bill was sent to collections before Ministry communicated to me a complete explanation of the situation (or any at all, despite my efforts) and simply continued to send invoices and, eventually, sent the bill to the collector.  I was/am not necessarily asking Ministry to cancel the charges.  I simply desired clear communication on how to proceed to a resolution.  As such, I do not believe that I or my insurer have any ability to remove the collection event from my credit report, but Ministry might.  If my insurer is not willing to cover the charges as they should due to their misrepresentation of Dr. [redacted] as, indeed, an in-network mental health provider on their online directory, accessed directly from my personal portal on the insurer's website, then I will, as I agreed to, pay the bill in full.  However, I will not do so until I have written assurance that the collection event will be erased from my credit report/history and that Ministry does what it can to help me resolve this with my insurance as it said it would before completely ignoring my continued efforts to understand and resolve the issue.
Regards,
[redacted]

Revdex.com of Wisconsin ATTN: Bradley [redacted]   RE: File [redacted]       Dear Bradley:   This letter is in response to the Revdex.com Center Concern File [redacted], regarding the complaint filed due to a date of service not being...

billed to the insurance company.  After review of the account it was determined that the patient did have insurance at the time of this visit.  It appears that other visits were submitted to your insurance but for some reason this visit was overlooked.  On 2/17/17 a hold was put on your account at Alliance Collection Agency, on 2/21/17 we requested that the account be returned from Alliance collections agency to Ministry.  We apologized for any inconvenience this issue caused.  We will be writing this charge off and the patient will not be billed.       Thank you,         Sally [redacted] Ascension/Ministry Health Care Phone: ###-###-####

Thank you for the opportunity to respond to the various
customer service issues regarding Complaint Number [redacted]. On behalf of
Ministry Medical Group, part of Ascension, I apologize for the delayed
response. The original complaint did not reach the appropriate Ministry
department until March...

3, 2017, and this response was generated as soon as
possible thereafter. Ministry Medical Group strives to provide excellent care,
100% of the time and need to know when care falls short of patient
expectations. After an investigation of the issues, Ministry's position is
listed below.The first
complaint was that it took 45 minutes before the patient was taken back to the
exam room. Due to the individualized attention given to every patient,
sometimes Ministry care providers are not able to see patients exactly at the
scheduled time. Ministry does not have a specific explanation for the delay and
apologizes for the inconvenience. Ministry will use this complaint to
investigate ways to improve patient scheduling and the clinic experience.Regarding the second complaint that the patient did not
receive adequate instruction following the services received, Ministry
conducted a review of the patient's care. It is Ministry policy to provide
follow up instructions to patients and further necessary information regarding
the patient's care within a reasonable amount of time after services are
performed. After reviewing this incident, the standard of care for services
rendered to the patient has been met. Ministry does apologize for any confusion
or inconvenience in the aftercare communications. Ministry will use this
complaint to continue to monitor and improve communication policies
and practices. Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Benita,In follow up to Mr. [redacted] 04/13/16 email in regard to [redacted]’s complaint, it is the patient’s responsibility to understand the requirements and limitations of their insurance plan. If the patient continues to have concerns regarding his coverage, he would need to appeal or contact his insurance company regarding those concerns. There is nothing else Ministry is able to do on the patient’s behalf.In regard to the patient’s charges that were turned over to collections, the charges were correctly and appropriately billed to the patient’s insurance carrier and the patient, so they will not be pulled back from the collection agency. With respect to the patient’s credit report/history, the charges have already been reported to the credit bureaus by the collection agency.  The collection event remains on the patient’s report; once the patient makes payment to the collection agency, it is reported as a paid collection event. I would advise the patient that should he choose not to make payment to the collection agency, the charges will continue to be pursued by the collection agency to the point of judgement and possible garnishment.Ministry Health Care maintains its position of having done its due diligence. As Mr. Reed indicated, there is nothing else that Ministry Health Care can do on our end to help the patient resolve the matter with his insurance carrier.Sincerely,[redacted]Customer Service SpecialistPatient Financial ServicesMinistry Health Care[redacted].[redacted]@ministryhealth.org715-342-[redacted]

Review: Thank you for taking the time to look at this.

I'm writing you because my medical provider, Ministry Health Care, has sent me a bill for two office visits with Dr. [redacted], a Ministry psychiatrist that I see at the [redacted] Blvd. office.

That bill has since been sent to a collection agency despite all of my efforts and outreach to resolve the issue with Ministry and my insurer at the time, [redacted].

My insurer [redacted] lists Dr. [redacted] as an in-network mental/behavioral health provider on their website and have also confirmed this several times by phone. With my policy, I have no co-pay or co-insurance after deductible, which I met long before either of the two visits. So I shouldn't have any responsibility for any of the amount due.

I called [redacted] and they informed me that Dr. [redacted] had one tax ID # for the [redacted] Blvd. office and a separate tax ID # for Saint Michael's Hospital. The rep said that the claims for my visits were sent under the Saint Michael's tax ID # instead of the [redacted] Blvd. tax ID # which is the one they have an in-network contract with. She asked me to have Ministry resubmit the claims under the [redacted] Blvd. tax ID #.

I called the Ministry Billing Office to request this and the rep told me they would take care of it and would call me back if there were any holdups. Instead of a phone call, about 2 weeks later I received another invoice requesting the same amounts due from Ministry.

I called the Ministry Billing Office again and they told me that Dr. [redacted] only had one tax ID # and then placed me on hold for over an hour to talk to a supervisor. I finally had to just hang up because I needed to go.

I attempted to call again later and the rep told me she would need to look over the file. She placed me on hold and no one ever came back on the line for two hours.

I finally contacted the patient advocate at Ministry and she managed to compel someone from the billing office to contact me.

I worked with a customer service specialist ([redacted]) and she was great and exceeded my expectations during our initial communication and joint call to [redacted] discuss my coverage.

[redacted] suggested that she continue talking to [redacted] by herself to try to resolve the problem using her experience and knowledge. I was very grateful for that. She said she would call/write me with the results of her efforts on that conversation and also with some tips on navigating the insurance marketplace.

However, I never heard anything from her and have left several messages on her personal voicemail without response.

I wrote the patient advocate to inform her or this lack of follow-up. The patient advocate then forwarded my case to the Patient Financial Services Supervisor with a request that the supervisor review it and contact me. I received no communication from that supervisor.

The patient advocate also provided me with the phone number of Ministry's Revenue Cycle Administrator. I called this person several times and left several messages. No one from that department has replied to me, either. At this point, the patient advocate indicated she had done all she could to help.

In conclusion, I have made every effort to resolve this invoice. It seems Ministry has just decided not to spend the time/effort to deal with the matter or interact with me further and has simply dumped the bill to a collection agency.

My present purpose is to have Ministry stop ignoring me and work with me to resolve the invoice. That effort would include reacquiring the bill from the collection agency and ensuring that no marks remain on my credit file as a result of all of this. That is what is fair and right.

Thank you again,

[redacted]Desired Settlement: My present purpose is to have Ministry stop ignoring me and work with me to resolve the invoice. That effort would include reacquiring the bill from the collection agency and ensuring that no marks remain on my credit file as a result of all of this. That is what is fair and right.

Consumer

Response:

Review: Ministry Medical Group Statements are confusing and misleading. They do not list the information on the statement that is actual and current to the customer. This has been discussed with them over a year and a have ago. It was mentioned by their staff that they are aware of this and in the process of correcting it. It was understood that it would take about 2-3 months to correct. The statement shows possible double dipping collections of debt that have been taken care of by another business, which is not an ethical business practice and needs to be corrected. It has still not been changed and as a customer, it hides the current activity of the billing process. Action towards them changing this needs to addressed and followed through.Desired Settlement: I want this statement changed to reflect honest business practices, not misleading information. I was told 18 months ago that I was not the first complaint but one of many.

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com:

Thank you for the chance to respond to this complaint. I did review the patient's clinic account charges and there was a balance that was turned over to collection. When a balance gets turned over to collection, it is then considered bad debt and gets cleared off of Ministry' ledgers, and assumed by the collection agency and they will follow through on attempts to collect on the debt. We do not continue to attempt to collect. Once the balance is turned over to collection it is no longer considered a current balance and will not show on the statement. Ministry Health Care statements would list any current balances that the patient does have with our facility.

In regard to the statement of awareness of Ministry's Billing Statements being confusing, we do acknowledge that we have heard some general complaints to that effect and we have been in the process of working towards implementing a more simplified billing system; that being said, it is a very labor-intensive (Ministry Health Care needs to integrate 9 different health information systems) and costly project and we have yet to have an estimated launch date announced, certainly not within months. While reveiwing the clinic billing account, I found that there was no documentation that she had ever contacted our business office or customer service to report questions or concerns about the statements, so I do not know what staff that she is referring to that informed her it would take "2-3 months to correct." Billing concerns should be addressed by the Customer Service Department only. I apologize if the patient was given inaccruate information. I would encourage the patient to contact our customer service department at ###-###-####, with any questions or concerns about her statements.

Sincerely,

Patient Relations Specialist

Ministry Health Care